Drive roller

ABSTRACT

The present apparatus relates to roller conveyors employed in fruit and vegetable peeling operation where a caustic treatment is followed by the application of infrared radiant heat. The rollers which carry and turn the potatoes under the infrared rays become coated with a pastelike layer of substance removed from the potato and this layer is baked on the cylindrical roller to provide a drive surface thereon.

I Umted States Patent [151 3,642,520 Lazzarini 1 Feb. 15, 1972 [54]DRIVE ROLLER [56] References Cited [72] Inventor: Louis P. Lazzarini,San Jose, Calif. UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Assignees: Genevieve lhnscom,Santa Cruz, C ifi; 2,072,865 3/1937 Bryant ..99/103 Genevieve Hsnscom,Robert Magnuson 3,529,971 9/1970 Pais et al ..99/103 and Lois J.Thomson, as Trustees of the Estatehof Roy Magnum" pan Interest PrimaryExaminer-Alfred L. Leavitt to Assistant Examiner-Edward G. Whitby [22]Filed: Aug. 27, 1970 Att0rney-Allen and Chromy [21] Appl. No.: 67,318[57] ABSTRACT The present apparatus relates to roller conveyors employedin [52] s/ 1 2 7 125/ 3 fruit and vegetable peeling operation where acaustic treat- [51] Int Cl i, 7/04 B68!) 7/00 ment is followed by theapplication of infrared radiant heat. 58 midoisLQFiLIII111111111997165;134/6 2512;146/46- mum which can! and mm the l17/DIG. i, 94, 120;198/127 frared rays become coated with a pastelike layer of substanceremoved from the potato and this layer is baked on the cylindricalroller to provide a drive surface thereon.

1 Claim 3 Drawing Figures Pmmmraa 15 m2 FIG. 2

FIG.3

INVENTOR. LOUIS P. LAZZARINI ATTOR EYS DRIVE ROLLER DESCRIPTION OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to rollers for use in peeling offruit and vegetable articles, more particularly, to white potatoes.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a drive surface orcoating on a roller for carrying fruit or vegetable articles coated withlye through an infrared treating zone and for effecting turning thereofwhile travelling through the zone.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drive surface on therollers of a roller conveyor wherein the more or less sticky pastelikematerial removed from the surface of articles such as white potatoes isspread uniformly over a roller into a surface layer and is hardened onthe roller to provide a drive surface thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method offorming a satisfactory drive surface for a fruit or vegetable articlewhich has become slick.

Other objects and advantages of this invention shall be apparent fromthe following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view partially broken away andpartially shown in section illustrating the relation of the rollerconveyor to the overhead infrared heat unit;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of one of the rollers of the rollerconveyor; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view as indicated by the line 3-3 inFIG. 2.

The instant invention relates to the type of apparatus disclosed in aapplication for U.S. Letters Patent of Lazzarini and Smith, Ser. No.46,228 filed June 15, 1970 for ROLLER CLEANING MECHANISM, and referenceis made to the above-identified application for details of theconstruction not shown herein.

Referring to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated a rollerconveyor 10, which is adapted to pass beneath an overhead infrared heatunit 12 having a barrier screen 13 disposed there-beneath. The rollerconveyor has rollers 14 journaled in a pair of chains 15, the upperstretch passing close beneath the heat unit 12, and the lower stretchpassing over suitable track supports. A roller clean-off mechanism 16 isprovided below the lower stretch of the conveyor, comprising four blades16a travelling in a horizontal path. The blades 16a are spaced a shortdistance below the rollers 14 so as to leave a layer of the materialtaken off of the product being treated such as a fruit or vegetable, forexample, white potatoes. The potatoes fed onto the roller conveyor havebeen previously through a roller taken treated and coated with a causticsolution so as to penetrate and condition and disintegrate the skin ofthe potato. In some cases in a potato chip plant, the potatoes are alsocoated with a grease carried by the feed water. In any event, the resultis a slick article so that the potatoes do not turn well on a cleanroller. It has been found to be desirable to create a baked layer orcoating 18 on the outside of the cylindrical core 17 which coating willbe rough and barklike and has enough sharpness to grip the potatoes andturn them. As the peeling process of the potatoes proceeds the potatoeswill inherently lose a certain amount of skin, lye and soap as apastelike material in the area of the roller conveyor and the buildup ofthis material is such that it is desirable to place a cleaning means 16as shown in FIG. 1. With knives or blades 16 of say 5-foot diameter androtating at about 120 revolutions per minute, and with a conveyor speedof 31 feet per minute, and with a pitch diameter of the rotary sprocketof 3.204 inches one revolution of the rollers will travel approximately10.6

inches. During the complete travel of the rollers through 5 feet of thecleaning zone there will be 12.96 passes of the cleaning blades over therollers. The resultant shape of the peel residue on the rollers will becylindrical in the center and then gradually change to a l3-sided figureat the ends of the rollers. In other types of cleaning mechanisms thecoating of the rollers may be cylindrical throughout.

In some cases it IS desirable, after the rollers are first coated,

to let the roller conveyor 10 run idly beneath the heating means 12until it has baked or cooked the layers 18 on the cylindrical roller orcore 17. g

In any event once the rough barklike layer is formed on the rolls theywill turn the potatoes as they pass beneath the infrared units 12 sothat they will be uniformly treated over their entire surface tocondition the skin for subsequent removal.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, itwill be apparent the invention is capable of variation and modificationfrom the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only bythe scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

I. A method of providing a drive between a roller of a conveyor movablethrough a given path and a fruit or vegetable article to be driven androtated thereby, which comprises coating the article with a caustic,subjecting the caustic and article to heat, and carrying the coatedarticle engaged with the roller through the conveyor path so that aportion of the surface components of the coated article resulting fromthe caustic and heat treatment will form a hardened layer on the roller.

